Harvard Kennedy School Model Finds Permitting Delays Top Barrier to Brighton Street Development

BELMONT -- May 11, 2026, Belmont Select Board receives Harvard Kennedy School feasibility model warning that permitting delays undercut Brighton Street development. A four-student Advanced Field Lab team presented a professional-grade interactive financial model Monday showing that most development scenarios in the Brighton Street Corridor fall short of the 17 to 17.5 percent internal rate of return developers require before committing capital. The team, citing interviews with seven development firms and benchmarking against 10 Massachusetts municipalities, identified Belmont's two-to-five-year permitting timeline as the single largest controllable barrier, finding that a five-month reduction in pre-construction time would lift returns across all three test sites. The study also cautioned that inclusionary zoning above roughly 15 percent collapses feasibility nonlinearly, pointing to Cambridge's experience after raising its requirement to 20 percent, which drove affordable unit production from approximately 58 units per year to near zero. Chair Matt Taylor disclosed that the town will bring a site plan review framework to Town Meeting in June aimed at reducing special permit reliance, and the student team said it will return in June with the Rappaport Center to continue the work.